Benedikt Hain

Recording & Mixing Engineer

Hi! I'm a professional mixer/engineer/producer from Zwiesel, Germany.
I have my own studio, Outback Recordings, where I do most of my recording and mixing, but I am always available to work wherever you want me to!
I also play in a hardcore-punk band called Bridges Left Burning and run a small independent record label (Down The Drain Records).

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Interview with Benedikt Hain

Tell us about your studio setup.

I think, that the most important parts of any setup are your brain and ears, but in the right hands good gear can definitely make a difference. So here you go:
My studio has a small live room, an ambience chamber next to the live room and a control room. All rooms have controlled, optimized acoustics and the sound of the live room can be adjusted from very dry to very lively using variable acoustic modules and the chamber next to it.
In the control room I'm running a hybrid setup, meaning I use the best of both the analog and the digital domain. I work on a Mac Pro with Cubase and Pro Tools (also have Logic but don't really use it anymore) and mix with both plugins and outboard gear. AD/DA conversion is performed by an Antelope Audio Orion 32 that is connected via MADI to a RME HDSPe FX PCIe interface. For monitoring I use a pair of ADAM A77X, various smaller systems and quality headphones.
I use microphones by: Neumann, Shure, AKG, Sennheiser, Heil Sound, Audix, Oktava, sE Electronics, amm...
I use preamps by: Lake People, SSL, Thermionic Culture, Presonus
I use outboard gear by: Thermionic Culture, Empirical Labs, SSL, Tegeler Audio Manufaktur, ART

Analog or digital and why?

Both. Depending on the required and desired workflow, sound and results you have to decide what is best to use.

What's your 'promise' to your clients?

I promise that I will always do the best I can to satisfy my clients and to help them reach their goals with their music. And I will always respect their art and be aware of what their music means to them.

What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

The biggest misconception is to think that I can make poorly recorded tracks or crappy performances sound awesome. I can improve almost everything, but it always takes a good song, performed by a good musician, recorded carefully in an adequate environment to really produce something great that will get the listeners attention. We're engineers and artists, not magicians!

What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

You get what you pay for! You don't necessarily have to spend a fortune on the services of the most expensive hit producers and top engineers, but investing in an experienced and/or talented professional is well worth it. If somebody offers you to record or mix your stuff very cheap, be careful! A real professional who makes a living out of this has to charge a certain amount of money. And if you decide on the cheapest offer, chances are, you don't like the results and will still have to hire a professional. So this can even be more expensive than letting the right people do the work right from the beginning.

If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

Learn as much as you can about the gear you're using and use it carefuly! Understanding how your tools work, what to do with them and when to use them gets you way further than purchasing new gear. Only apply processing when necessary! Never touch a knob or fader unless you exactly know why you're doing it and what you're aiming for!

What type of music do you usually work on?

I do a lot of band-based projects with real, acoustic instruments and I do quite a lot of Hip Hop and Rap. I don't do edm, house, techno, dubstep and stuff like that very often.
My favourite genres: Heavy music (Hardcore, Punk, Metal, Stoner, etc.), all kinds of Rock music, Hip Hop

What's your strongest skill?

My strongest skill probably is my keen sense of hearing, feeling and understanding the music as well as the clients and/or artists intention. I can adapt to different situations very quickly, which enables me to make the right decisions and to deal with almost any kind of material pretty confidently.

What do you bring to a song?

The least I can bring to a song is an enhancement of it's original vibe, making it sound just like the artist intended it, but "better".
Depending on the material and the clients idea and vision I can make things sound punchier, deeper, wider, bigger, fatter, warmer, more Hi-Fi, dirtier, more "vintage" sounding, whatever suits your song or record.
And of course I can get creative and try to improve your arrangement, composition or performance, if you want me to and let me do this.

What's your typical work process?

First I talk to the client and try to find out as much as I can about him/her, his/her vision, talent, intention, budget and expectations. Then I calculate the time and effort necessary to satisfy the client and deliver the best results possible. I'm always willing to assist and coach the client befor the actual session to help him/her get the best out of his/her abilities and make the session a more relaxed and fun experience, leading to better results.
When the actual tracking-/mixing-/whatever-session starts, I don't follow a certain plan, but will try to make the right decisions and use the right gear and techniques for each project individually.

Most of the time I do tracking and mixing for bands and solo artists. Sometimes it's just engineering, sometimes it's also creative producing. This depends on how much the client wants me to participate in the creative process. I work in my own studio as well as in other studios, whatever place is best for the tracking/mixing sessions and the clients budget.
I also do some budget mastering in my own (mixing-)studio, but I always recommend to hire a dedicated mastering engineer in a dedicated mastering studio.
I do a lot of band-based projects with real, acoustic instruments and I do quite a lot of Hip Hop and Rap. I don't do edm, house, techno, dubstep and stuff like that very often.
My specialities are:
- tracking drums, bass, guitars, vocals and whole live bands
- mixing projects that where recorded elsewhere
- reamping guitars and bass
- favourite genres: Heavy music (Hardcore, Punk, Metal, Stoner, etc.), all kinds of Rock music, Hip Hop